


What's in a Name

by amesbaloo



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 11:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4703837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amesbaloo/pseuds/amesbaloo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"A god? Who ever compared you to a god?<br/>Enjolras has a series of misunderstandings. Grantaire has a cat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What's in a Name

Enjolras was having a very bad day. He had made a girl cry in his first class of the day, which had resulted in the professor giving a lecture on how to ‘politely voice our opinions should they differ from other students’. Of course he felt bad that she’d cried, but she’d been so wrong. How could he be held accountable for her believing that the minimum wage was sufficient when she had, by her own admission, never worked a day in her life? Her opinion was completely unfounded. It didn’t help that when he made it to his second class of the day he learned that the essay he’d spent a week meticulously writing and rewriting was on the wrong topic and he had some how mixed up the links for his class and the intro level class. Any other professor would have been willing to accept the essay with maybe a slight mark down or allow him time for a rewrite, but of course this class was taught by Professor Javert. Javert had decided Enjolras warranted a mark down of thirty points for his failing reading comprehension. Once you coupled that with Javert and Enjolras’ differing opinions, his essay would probably stand at a 60 percent. It didn’t help that the dining hall had been out of the vegetarian sushi he normally grabbed on his way to class and he didn’t have time to wait in line to get anything else so he’d missed lunch. His jacket had caught on a seat and ripped up the back. Someone on the mall had hit him with a Frisbee. A squirrel had stolen his cell phone resulting in fifteen minutes of him screaming at a tree before some passing girl climbed it and tossed his phone back to him. His entire day had been remarkably Bossuet-like, so when the perfectly sunny day switched instantly into pouring rain on his walk to the Musain, he wasn’t that surprised.

 

He stormed into the café shaking his hair with a huff as he tried to dislodge the chilly rain. He smiled at Musichetta who was working the bar before entering the back room currently hosting the Amis. He stalked to the front and collapsed down next to Combeferre who smiled comfortingly at him before turning back to his conversation with Bahorel and Feuilly. Enjolras stared sullenly at his feet waiting for the clock to tick over to 7 on the dot so he could start their meeting. Speaking to the Amis always soothed him as he could vent his frustrations and still know that the words made an impact on those in front of him. Well, except for Grantaire who seemed to hold no interest in what Enjolras had to say except for the spots where he could pick it apart. 

 

“You alright Apollo? Did you swim the Siene on your way here?”

 

Enjolras snapped his gaze to Grantaire, more annoyed than he would normally be by the needling nickname, “Don’t call me that.”

 

Grantaire smirked, “Why not, Apollo. Are you opposed to pet names?” A snicker ran through those in attendance at that.

 

“No I just don’t appreciate the comparison to a god, especially-“ he was cut off by a sharp bark of laughter from Grantaire.

 

His smirk had morphed into a full-blown, shit-eating grin now, “A god? Who ever compared you to a god?”

 

“You did? On multiple occasions?” Enjolras felt himself going red, whether it was from annoyance or humiliation he wasn’t sure, but he suspected it was a healthy mix of the two.

 

Grantaire started to answer but had to cut himself of as he began laughing harder than Enjolras had ever seen him laugh. Joly took this moment to step in, “Apollo is the name of his cat, who you bear a striking resemblance to. How did you not know that? He talks about Apollo all the time.”

 

Enjolras looked down feeling his face flame even brighter, “I always assumed he was talking about me.”

 

Courfeyrac took this minute to break in with a giggle, “I didn’t know you were one to constantly rub yourself against R in affection and bring him dead animals to stake your claim.”

 

“Apollo is a finicky, aggressive cat with ridiculous curly, blonde hair who loves to be the center of attention. We all felt the comparison was just,” Grantaire voiced now that his guffaws had died down, although the tears of laughter still glistened on his face.

 

Enjolras grimaced as his friends all began agreeing to the rather unflattering image Grantaire had just painted. “Oh,” he glanced at the clock, “The meeting needs to begin we’re already three minutes late.”

 

It wasn’t until they were packing up from the meeting two hours later that Enjolras realized that Grantaire hadn’t made a single interruption and had instead sat silently in his seat swirling his drink of the day around in his glass and observing Enjolras.

 

Everyone else had filed out already filed up and Enjolras assumed he was alone as he slowly gathered the papers scattered around the room after being passed around. That’s why he jumped when he heard Grantaire speak softly from his seat at the back table, “I’m sorry.”

 

“What for,” Enjolras asked not turning as he straightened the papers with a tap on the table. “You were less disruptive tonight than you ever have been at a meeting.” He didn’t add that the silence had left him unsure of the strength of his points and with no idea what direction to head with their plans.

 

“My comparison of you and Apollo offended you.”

 

“Grantaire, I’ve known you for two years and never have I taken anything you say seriously. Why would I start now? I’m not offended.” Enjolras flinched at his cold tone, but the words had already left his mouth before he could stop them. A day of stress loosening his control the way a pint normally did to Grantaire.

 

There was a pause and for a second Enjolras thought that Grantaire had left, “Right, well I suppose I’ll see you next meeting.” The door into the Musain’s backroom was saloon styled so it swung back immediately on its own. Enjolras had a feeling that was the only thing that had prevented Grantaire from slamming it . In fact the extended time it swayed back and forth suggested that he’d given it a go anyway.

 

“Dammit.”

 

Eponine shared a mandatory science class with him and they both sat in the back paying moderate levels of attention knowing that their weekly study sessions would make up for any inattention in the moment. Normally Enjolras would oppose such action, but his opposition of mandatory classes in college was stronger. The fact that schools made students pay for courses that would not directly benefit them on their road to their degree was unbelievable to him. To protest this he took the most useless course in each mandatory field of study. Which was why he and Eponine were able to spend their days in the back of the room playing hangman, while Professor Fauchevelent taught the class about Astrology for Non-Science Majors in the most over-simplified way possible. Today, however, he got to class and saw Eponine sitting front row with people already surrounding her on both sides. She was mad at him. Eponine had never once been mad at him for a reason other than his treatment of Grantaire.

 

“Fuck.”

 

He turned and immediately left the classroom heading for Grantaire’s apartment complex knowing he had a schedule comprised entirely of Tuesday Thursday classes because he felt having it all in one go lessened his chance of allowing himself to procrastinate single classes. It took a solid four minutes of knocking, before a very hung-over looking Grantaire opened the door. “What do you want?”

 

“I’m sorry.” Enjolras said entering the apartment quickly before R could decide this wasn’t a conversation he was up for having.

 

“What do you have to be sorry for?”

 

“I was stressed out and tired and I was hurt by what you had said and so I said the first thing that came into my mind and I regretted it immediately and you didn’t deserve that and everything you say matters to me otherwise it wouldn’t get under my skin because you are so smart and so contrary and you build my arguments up better and I never say it because honestly I think you only do it to annoy me and if you knew it didn’t annoy me you might stop and the last thing I ever want is to hurt you because-“

 

“Stop.” Grantaire said handing Enjolras the cup of tea he was drinking before stepping away into the kitchen to get a new one. “Take a deep breath and apologize to the universe for the longest run-on sentence ever spoken by one man. You were in a bad mood when you walked into the Musain and I knew it, I shouldn’t have gone after you I’m sorry. I’m also sorry about the Apollo thing.”

 

“Is that really how you see me?”

 

“You mean aggressive and curly-haired?” Grantaire smiled, “Is there any other way to see you? Apollo is the sweetest cat on the planet. He is very vocal when he wants something to change. I once brought a guy back here and then he started to get weird so I tried to kick him out and Apollo attacked him, because he’s super protective of what he cares about. We joke about you being the same as Apollo because you have the hair and the temperament, but his personality is a lot more than aggressive and attention seeking. You both are a lot more than that. How could you ever not see that?”

 

Enjolras nodded down at his tea when he heard mewling from the couch, “So, you’re Apollo,” he greeted the cat, secretly glad to exit the uncomfortable conversation he and Grantaire had found themselves in. He was a stunning cat, with his thick golden hair that fell in waves rare for a cat. He held himself stiff like he was on display and wanted to be admired, but the second Enjolras’ hand made contact he melted into it ready to be pet.

 

“I feel like uniting you two was a mistake that can only end in world domination,” Grantaire said with a laugh.

 

Enjolras smiled. “I think I’m okay with the comparison,” he spoke softly cooing at the cat.

 

“No one will ever believe me that you are such an unbelievably sweet, cat person.”

 

“Speaking of believing you, I really am sorry for what I said to you yesterday. I had an incredibly shit day and my patience had worn thin and it was wrong of me to take it out on you. Especially with such an untrue statement, because since I’ve met you I can’t remember making a single speech or argument that you haven’t helped me shape and strengthen.”

 

Grantaire sat down on the opposite side of Apollo. “I just say bullshit to try and derail you. I’m a drunken asshole and that’s okay.”

 

“Don’t say that. You push my buttons and exasperate me, but that’s because you’re so smart. You challenge me in a way no one else is willing to and I can always cound on you to make sure that my ideas are bulletproof and that our execution is well-rounded and sensitive to the people we’re trying to help. Sometimes I get so caught up in seeing people as people to help that I need your help to see them as people first.”

 

Grantaire smirked, “Well, of course you have trouble seeing the little people, Apollo, you are a god after all.”

 

Enjolras covered his face with his hands and groaned, “It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption.”

 

“Of course not, I would make some awful joke about you being my sunshine, but that would not only be cheesy, but also inaccurate since Helios was the sun and Apollo merely the chariot driver and occasionally not even that depending on the myth.” Grantaire muttered softly.

 

Enjolras looked at Grantaire who was paying more attention to the cat between them than to what he was saying and suddenly he realized. Moving his hand from the cat resulted in a miserable noise from the cat but he found himself not caring as he pulled Grantaire forward into a kiss. When Grantaire melted into it, Enjolras couldn’t stop the smile breaking out on his face. He had a feeling that he was going to have plenty of time to get to know the cat he’d been named after.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfic I've written since I was probably about 13 so I hope it is okay. It was inspired by some fanart Apollo/Enjolras as a cat I saw on tumblr that I thought I reblogged but cannot find so if anyone sees that and wants to link me so I can give credit where credit is due I'd super appreciate it.  
> Also just to clarify "the mall" is the grassy center of campus where students hang out. That's what my college called it, but I think other schools might call it something else.


End file.
